1. Field of the Invention
The Cascade Windows Software™ (a trademark of Applicant) Technology and The Cascade Windows™ GUI (Graphical User Interface) Operating System are a series of processes and methods programmed as custom code that allows seamless multifunctional interactions between a user and a mobile interactive electronic machine. The instant invention comprises source code that is convertible to executables, as is known in the art. The Cascade Windows GUI (Graphical User Interface) Operating System utilizes Cascade Windows and system hardware (E.g. the device's touchscreen, the device's speaker(s), the device's microphone(s), and/or the device's camera system) to receive inputs from a user, which is in-turn processed by a microprocessor with one or more cores and displayed as output and/or visual widgets on a screen display of a mobile interactive computing device (E.g. smartphones, electronic display gaming devices and controllers, electronic tablets, portable media players, and wearable computers—glasses, and watches . . . etc.). These Cascade Windows have adjustable dimensions which are altered by various commands and instructions designated by the mobile user through finger movements above or on a keypad and/or on a touchscreen interface, and/or by voice and/or eye commands by the user; which allows the user to expand, minimize, move, open, close, refresh, and scroll sequences of actions & screen configurations, Applications (APPS), and/or systems on the mobile device so that the user can efficiently and effortlessly multi-task while operating the mobile device system; creating a seamless, multifunctional, ubiquitous, and amorphous interface which gives a powerful source of ambidextrous communication to mobile users. This has not been predicated in mobile interactive computing devices, like smartphones, tablets, and gaming devices/controllers currently available in the commercial market; as such the instant invention which utilizes Cascade Windows, ergonomics, and intuitive applications on a screen display in a GUI (Graphical User Interface) System for mobile devices, like smartphones, would be well received.
This invention relates generally to a method, system, and apparatus relating to a Cascade Software Technology™ which allows the user to simultaneously open and operate various systems and Applications (APPS) accessed and activated via a mobile phone/device and/or a globally accessible network. The Cascade Software Technology arranges the active interface of various mobile phone/device systems (E.g. the Phone System, the Media/Internet System, and/or the Multi-cast Communication System) and/or Applications (APPS) that run on the mobile phone/device into adjustable dimension windows opened on the mobile phone/device screen so that they either overlap each other, are adjacent to each other, are adjacent to each other sharing a common boarder(s), and/or are collapsed configurations that are movable on the screen. These Cascade Windows have adjustable dimensions which are altered by various commands and instructions designated by the user through finger movements on or above a keypad, and/or on a touch screen interface, and/or by voice and/or eye commands by the user. These Cascade Windows have “ghosted” (transparent) title menu bars (which gives the user various options concerning the orientation of the window(s) on the screen and/or the display of an iterative step in displaying the window(s) in a designated area on the display so that the user can choose between the processes of opening or closing windows that occurred in successive stages on the display, each of which was dependent on the preceding one, and produced a culminating technical effect). The Ghost Title Menu Bars™ (a Trademark of the Applicant) become visible to the user when the user activates that area of the Cascade Window by selecting the particular window by implementing various preset commands with the mobile machine, which includes (but is not limited to): touching a command on a keypad, touching the window's area on a touch screen, speaking a command, and/or performing various commands via eye movements.
2. Description of the Background Art
The use of “windows” GUI's (Graphical User Interfaces) on a computer screen to open programs and work simultaneously in various programs by overlapping open windows on the computer screen or minimizing them using a title control bar onto a menu bar on the bottom of the computer screen is well known in the art and is widely used on PC's and implemented by Microsoft Corporation in a series of PC operating systems produced by the company, in 1985 to present; but this concept has not been implemented on mobile smartphones/devices. Several vendors have created their own windowing systems based on independent code, with basic elements in common that define the WIMP (Window, Icon, Menu, “Pointing device,” Paradigm). In the latest version of Microsoft's Windows Vista and Windows mobile OS (Operating System) Windows phone 7; window management is represented via a rolodex-style flipping mechanism. In both cases the operating system transforms the windows on-the-fly while continuing to update the content of those windows.
The Cascade Software™ Technology Invention and The Cascade Windows™ GUI Operating System is created for use on various mobile phones/device(s) such as The SS Mobile Smartphone™ (a Mobile Smartphone Design patent Pending by The Inventor—U.S. 29/439,095), and allows users to execute multiple graphical applications on a mobile phone/device at the same time, through cooperative multitasking (a method in computing where multiple tasks, also known as processes, share common processing resources such as a CPU).
Designing the visual composition and temporal behavior of a GUI (Graphical User Interface) is an important part of software application programming in the area of human-computer interaction. Its goal is to enhance the efficiency and ease of use for the underlying logical design of a stored program, a design discipline known as usability. Methods of user-centered design are used to ensure that the visual language introduced in the design is well tailored to the tasks. Typically, the user interacts with information by manipulating visual widgets that allow for interactions appropriate to the kind of data they hold. The widgets of a well-designed interface are selected to support the actions necessary to achieve the goals of the user. A GUI (Graphical User Interface) may be designed for the requirements of a vertical market as application-specific graphical user interfaces (E.g. ATM's, POS—Point of Sale at restaurants, RTOS—Real Time Operating Systems).
Unlike most GUI designs for smartphones and electronic gaming devices/controllers that require toggling back and forth from an application, program, or screen display, to a home screen, to another application, program, or screen display, as on the latest version of the iPhone (iPhone 5), or from a back-button, to a screen of scrollable dormant or idle applications, programs or display, such as on the Windows mobile phone 7.5, and 8; The Cascade Software Technology™ allows the user to simultaneously open, view, and operate various systems and Applications (APPS) accessed and activated via a mobile phone/device and/or a locally or globally accessible network. The Cascade Software Technology arranges the active interface of various mobile phone/device systems (the Phone System, the Media/Internet System, and/or the Multicast Communication System) and/or Applications (APPS) that run on the mobile phone/device into adjustable dimension windows opened on the mobile phone/device screen, so that they either overlap each other, are adjacent to each other, are adjacent to each other sharing a common border(s), and/or are collapsed configurations that are movable on the screen. These Cascade Windows have adjustable dimensions which are altered by various commands and instructions designated by the mobile user through finger movements on or above a keypad and/or on a touchscreen interface, and/or by voice and/or eye commands by the user; which allows the user to expand, minimize, move, open, close, refresh, and scroll sequences of actions, Applications (APPS), or systems on the mobile phone/device simultaneously so that the user can efficiently and effortlessly multi-task while operating the mobile phone/device system; creating a seamless, multifunctional, ubiquitous, and amorphous interface which gives a powerful source of ambidextrous communication to mobile users.
This invention The Cascade Software Technology™ is related to U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,696 which is titled: “Method And System For Creating, Using And Modifying Multifunctional Website Hotspots,” filed on Jun. 8, 2001 which claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No.: 60/210,300 filed Jun. 8, 2000. The ClickVideoShop™ patent (U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,696) comprises an apparatus, system and method for creating multifunctional hotspots preferably for use in conjunction with digital media files, such as prerecorded and live-streamed audio and/or video, or other website content. The software of the “716” patent preferably facilitates the use of a digital media file, such as a digital video source or video stream, as a conduit for accessing related or targeted information through multifunctional hotspots imbedded or residing therein. The multifunctional hotspots may access information within the user's system, or a globally accessible network or over any local area network. The invention uses Multicast Windows that are controlled by a mode control bar, and are activated and appear only when the video is placed in a particular mode (E.G. Bid Mode—in a Multicast Communication Window, CoolDigiCall™ Mode—in a Calling System Window, and/or ClickVideoShop™ Mode—in a Media/Internet System Window); the shape of the video or media area, Multicast Windows, and general layout of the entertainment area as defined by the “716” patent are subject to design change. Therefore, the instant invention, The Cascade Software™ Technology and The Cascade Windows™ GUI Operating System as described herein would be well received in the mobile smartphone/device market. Consequently, there exist a need for the technology The Cascade Windows™ GUI Operating System and its' intuitive applications to provide a seamless interface between Device Application Programs and Device Systems (internal and external hardware—E.G. the device's microprocessor, the device's memory, the device's touchscreen, the device's microphone(s), the device's speaker(s), and/or the device's camera system) of mobile interactive devices (E.G. smartphones, gaming devices & controllers, electronic tablets, portable media players, and wearable computing devices—glasses, watches . . . etc.) so that multi-tasking complex tasks, working on large amounts of data simultaneously, and/or playing interactive games is far more efficient and effortless; whereby illuminating the user experience.